Recover

Chapter Seventeen

6 weeks later

     My chest still aches through the bandages; a cold heavy ache, but it's tolerable. They are mostly healed thanks to Aubree who's made sure I've been in bed most of the time. She ordered Jake to be my nurse and he's had to give me ice and milk about five times a day; so much milk, I don't think I can look at another glass. Jake would go off to school and I would be taken care of by Aubree. He always came home with my homework and notes which were an endless sea of boring. If I want to leave at all Jake makes it his birth-right to push me around in a wheel chair; The drama queen, I can walk now without a problem, and have been for quite some time. Right now he's taking me to see Aubree.

     The hallway outside my room is separate from all the others, a private one so no one sees you going to the doctor which is exactly what we want. Why? Because it is the asshole Ezra's fault why I broke three ribs. When I'm done healing I'm going to make sure he is a dead man along with the girl who helped him. Trying to keep cool I think of their faces and how much I want to kick their teeth down their throats; it is immeasurable. As I get tense I sense Jake tightening his grip on the handles of the chair. I want to take a glance to check, but I don't. The blue rectangular door comes into view and he knocks on it, "Hey, here for a checkup."

     I roll my eyes as he talks; he brings me here like every other damn day. It is basically my hangout spot. The wooden door, just like all the other doors in this house I've found out, opens to show Aubree peaking her head out. "Password," she says teasingly.

     Jake groans, "Come on Aubree just let us in." She shakes her head sending her hair bouncing.

     "If you want to be let in from this hallway you have to say the password." She gives him an innocent smile. He looks down at the ground and mumbles something under his breath. "What was that I didn't hear you?" She just loves to torture him doesn't she? A sly smile comes over my lip, that’s what I like about her.

     A sea of pink covers his face, "If unicorns were real I'd be the prettiest one." We both start to giggle under our breath and when he glares at us we burst out in laughter that echoes in the hallway. "Oh shut up." He grabs a hold of the rubber handles and pushes me into the office making Aubree have to jump out of the way uttering a curse. He picks me up gently by having me slide my arm over his shoulder and then picking up my legs. He sets me down on top of the table.

     "So, what is the procedure for today?" I ask like a nurse to a doctor about going into a surgery.

     Aubree gives me a small smile, "Just one last x-ray and we will decide what to do with you." Her attention turns towards Jake, "You know what to do you dummy, get out." He mumbles and groans but finally gets up after Aubree gives him a few, more than gentle, pushes. Her hands wrap around a set of silver medical scissors, "Alright let's get started!"

     She starts to cut off the bandages from my left side, the cold metal against my skin causes goose bumps to rise along the edge my body. She gathers the white paper bandages and throws them in the trash. After taking another x-ray she hands me a blanket and heads to develop them. My mind feels hazy and I think I'm about to drift off when she suddenly comes back with a clipboard. Her eyes scan the images clasped to it.

     "Hallelujah! They're finally healed, but you still might want to take it easy." Her eyes glaze with a hint of pride at her skills, another successful recovered patient that can breathe without pain like a cold knife piercing their chest. Wow was the first few weeks painful.

     She rewraps me with fresh bandages just to make sure I don't move my torso in a way that would make the healing worth nothing. Once she's done, she helps me put my blue sweatshirt back on and whistles. Jake pops back into the room with a curious expression. She gives him a stern look, one a teacher gives to a delinquent, "Don't over work her but don't do everything for her, she needs to get back on her feet again by herself."